Published: March 05, 2009 10:23 am      

MOVIES: 'Watchmen' leads spring movie season

By Phil Dzikiy



“Who wants to watch Watchmen?” The question was recently raised by that old pop culture watchman, MAD Magazine. MAD is just one of the many publications using the upcoming comic book film as a cover story (yes, we’re included).

The hype for “Watchmen” hasn’t quite reached the levels of “The Dark Knight,” but it’s exceeded that of most comic book films. Which is a bit strange, considering that everyone knows who Batman is. Dr. Manhattan and Ozymandias aren’t quite as popular.

“Unfilmable” has long been used to describe Alan Moore’s 1980s comic series, later a graphic novel. The reasons for this description are many.

“Watchmen” is an absolute landmark comic. It is brilliant. Deconstructing the concept of superheroes has almost become passé in recent years, but Moore’s comic was very early to the party.

The original 12-part comic series examined the idea of superheroes in a Cold War setting, with extensive supplemental features (excerpts from an autobiography, “Under the Hood,” and a pirate comic, “Tales of the Black Freighter) woven into the story.

For fans of the comic, it’s hard to imagine any film doing “Watchmen” justice. So much of the comic is linked to the comic form. And there’s so much depth to the material. Realistically, only a miniseries could have any hope of covering the ground Moore treaded.

Director Zack Snyder must attempt to cram all of this into a 160-minute film, only because the studio didn’t want a three-hour effort.

By all accounts, Snyder plans on adapting the material as faithfully as possible ... not including the ending, which will see some changes.

A collection of no-name actors in an R-rated film based on a comic book that few people are familiar with doesn’t seem like a guaranteed success. But the same description fit “300” — which Snyder also directed, by the way.



“Watchmen” may be the most anticipated film to hit theaters in the upcoming months, but there are plenty of other notable movies coming our way this spring.



March 13

“Race to Witch Mountain” — The Rock, er, Dwayne Johnson seems to be carving out a family-friendly career at this point. This is a remake of Disney’s 1975 film, “Escape to Witch Mountain.”



March 20

“I Love You, Man” — Peter Klaven (Paul Rudd) is getting married and has no male friends close enough to be best man at the wedding. That is, until he finds Sydney Fife (Jason Segel). The “bromance” comedy subgenre isn’t going anywhere for now.

“Duplicity” — Where has Julia Roberts been? When you were once “America’s Sweetheart,” appearing in one film each year seems like a long holiday. Here, she’s teamed up with Clive Owen in a romance-thriller.

“Knowing” — A professor discovers time capsule contents that have eerily predicted future events. The message also seems to tell him the apocalypse is on the way ... and he and his son are directly involved. If you thought Nicolas Cage wasn’t going to star in this, you’re not thinking hard enough.



March 27

“Monsters vs. Aliens” — The first big animated film of the year, produced in real 3-D. Aliens are ready to take over Earth, but humans call on a secret group of monsters to save the day. The stellar cast features Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogen, Hugh Laurie, Will Arnett, Jimmy Kimmel, Rainn Wilson, Keifer Sutherland and Stephen Colbert.

“Adventureland” — The director of “Superbad” brings us another R-rated comedy, this one set at an amusement park in the late 1980s, starring Jesse Eisenberg, Ryan Reynolds, Kristen Stewart, Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader.



April 3

“Fast & Furious” — Who has time for “the?” Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Michelle Rodriguez are back, driving cars at high speeds. It’s like the last eight years never happened.



April 10

“Observe and Report” — Another mall cop comedy, with Paul Blart nowhere in sight. Seth Rogen plays the head of mall security here, with Anna Faris as his object of affection. “Paul Blart” was rated PG. This won’t be.

“Hannah Montana: The Movie” — Are your kids sick of her yet? No? Back to the theaters you go!



April 17

“17 Again” — Mike O’Donnell (Matthew Perry) becomes 17 again (and turns into Zac Efron, as his young self). Yes, it’s a bit like “Big” in reverse.

“State of Play” — A political thriller starring the likes of Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck and Helen Mirren. A journalist (Crowe) looks into the suspicious death of a congressman’s (Affleck) mistress. Based on a British TV miniseries.



April 24

“Fighting” — An underground street fighting movie featuring the relatively unknown Channing Tatum and his mentor, played by Terrence Howard. The title says it all.

“The Soloist” — It was supposed to be released last November, but this Jamie Foxx-Robert Downey Jr. film will see the light of day in late April. Foxx plays a prodigious musician who becomes schizophrenic and homeless, and Downey plays the Los Angeles Times columnist who befriends him. You were looking for these five words: Based on a true story.



May 1

“X-Men Origins: Wolverine” — May brings the heavy hitters. The “X-Men” series ran dry with the disappointing “X-Men: The Last Stand,” so it’s prequel time. First up is a film for the most popular X-Man, Wolverine. Hugh Jackman will reprise the role.



May 8

“Star Trek” — A reboot of the franchise, featuring the classic main “Star Trek” characters, like Captain Kirk and Spock. J.J. Abrams directs this big-budget film, which should lure more than just diehard Trekkies to theaters.



May 15

“Angels & Demons” — Tom Hanks returns in another Dan Brown adaptation, this one again dealing with the Vatican. A guaranteed hit.



May 21

“Terminator: Salvation” — For now, at least, it will be known as The Christian Bale Rant Movie. But those thoughts will fade away when the film approaches. The last “Terminator” film (“Rise of the Machines”), though not nearly as good as the first two movies, was better than expected; we’ll see if a McG-directed “Terminator” movie can deliver.



May 22

“Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian” — Not just a film, but a commercial for another American museum. Which isn’t so bad, if you’re going to advertise anything in a film’s title. Ben Stiller returns to deal with all the wild museum characters.